THIBODAUX, La. – The ACU Wildcats are back on the road this Saturday for their longest Southland Conference road trip of the season as they take on Nicholls at Guidry Stadium at 3 p.m. Saturday.
The Wildcats are 2-4 overall and 2-2 in the Southland Conference after last Saturday's hard-fought 13-7 home loss to McNeese. The Colonels, meanwhile, are 4-2 and 3-1 after a 14-10 come-from-behind home win last week vs. Northwestern State.
The Wildcats and Colonels have no history on the football field as this will be the first meeting ever between the two programs. ACU has played against every other team in the Southland Conference and has a win over every other program in the league with the exception of McNeese (0-5 vs. the Cowboys).
The Wildcats – who had lost 14 straight road games – won their last road outingL a 45-20 pasting of Incarnate Word in San Antonio on Sept. 30. The Colonels, meanwhile, are near the top of the league after opening the season with a 37-35 win over McNeese, playing well in a 24-14 loss at Texas A&M and then winning three of four following the loss. The only other blemish on the Nicholls ledger is a 66-17 loss at Sam Houston State.
Injury Update
• The Wildcats started
Aneas Henricks at CB last week against McNeese because
Cydney Calvin was out with an injury. Calvin should return to the starting lineup Saturday at Nicholls.
• Meanwhile, the Wildcats lost two defensive contributors for the season in DE
Daytrieon Dean (knee) and LB
A.J. Greathouse (Ankle).
Quincy Dunn moves back into the backup strongside linebacker spot behind
Royce Moore, while freshman
Koy Richardson moves into a backup role at safety. Sophomore
Corey Smith moves into a backup defensive end role behind
Dylan Douglass.
Quick-Hitters
• ACU gave up just 13 points to McNeese last Saturday night in the 13-7, marking the first time since 2009 that the Wildcats have given up 20 points or less in four straight games. ACU is 2-2 in this current stretch, but in 2009 they were 4-0 with wins over Northwest Missouri State (19-14 on Aug. 27), Fort Lewis (58-10 on Sept. 5), Texas A&M-Commerce (20-14 in overtime on Sept. 12 in the Cotton Bowl), and Southeastern Oklahoma State (33-14 on Sept. 19).
• The last time the Wildcats played five straight games in which they allowed 20 points or less came in 2008 when they finished the season 11-1 and won the Lone Star Conference championship. In that stretch, ACU beat Texas A&M-Commerce (45-14 on Sept. 13), Southeastern Oklahoma State (59-10 on Sept. 20), Eastern New Mexico (56-11 on Sept. 27), East Central, Okla., (66-7 on Oct. 4), and Angelo State (51-7 on Oct 11).
• Through six games in 2017, the ACU defense has give up just five touchdowns of 20 yards or more. By comparison, through six games in 2016, the Wildcats had given up 16 touchdowns of at least 20 yards, including five alone in a 55-52 loss to Northern Colorado.
Getting Defensive
• The Wildcats' biggest area of improvement in 2017 is on the defensive side of the ball where they have one of the top-ranked units in the Southland Conference. In fact, through six games is ranked fourth in the league in total defense, allowing just 367.3 yards per game. By comparison, last season's group was last in the league through six games, giving up an average of 531.8 yards per game.
• The Wildcats have given up just 132 on the season (22.0 per game) and rank second in the league in scoring defense. ACU has been even better in four Southland Conference games having allowed just 56 total points in four games (14.0 ppg), which is tied for second in the league in conference games. Central Arkansas leads the league in scoring defense in conference games (43 points allowed) with ACU and McNeese tied for second (56 points allowed each).
• The Wildcats are fourth in the Southland and 31st at the FCS level in third-down percentage defense as they have allowed just 33 percent of third downs (27 of 82) to be converted into first downs.
• ACU leads the Southland in fourth-down percentage defense (20th in the country) as they have allowed just 27.3 percent (3 of 11) of fourth down plays to be converted into first downs.
Record-Seeker
• ACU MLB
Sam Denmark –playing with a bad elbow – had six tackles last week in the loss to McNeese.
• Denmark now has 356 career tackles, leaving him 33 tackles shy of overtaking Ryan Boozer (388 tackles from 1998-2001) atop the Wildcats' career tackles chart.
